The Editor
The Sunday Times
P O Box 1742
Saxonwold 2132

Dear Sir or Madam

Complaint regarding article entitled "Mom chains up 'sex mad' daughter:
Even sjambokking fails to deter teenager who 'can't resist men'
Sunday Times - 27 July 2003 - Reporter: Mawande Jubasi

I refer to the above article which I believe also appeared in the print edition.

The subject of the article was a 13 year old rape victim. In addition to the man who has been formally charged with raping her, there are a number of other men who are taking advantage of this child's poverty by entering into sexual relations with her. She seems to concede to this as they give her money and food. Nevertheless, the men's actions constitute statutory rape.

I was horrified by the method and style of this article. There are many wider social and ethical problems tied up in the conveying of this story, but I would like to simply take issue with you and your reporter on the issue of your inconsistent approach towards rape and statutory rape in particular.

On your web-site, you outline your policy to ensure your reporting is accurate. I would like to draw your attention to "Stage One". This is where the purpose of the story is put to the test. I would say that the individual elements of the story certainly call for reporting. It is then that one would turn to "Stage Two". The reporter is instructed that before they undertake the writing, they have to ensure that they are fair to the party they are writing about. "Stage Three" deals with a variety of factors including "content". I shall quote extensively from this section:

Content:
· Are you satisfied that the story is accurate?
· Are you satisfied that it is angled correctly?
· Are you satisfied that it is fair to all parties?
· Did you contact all parties involved? If not, what steps did you take to contact them?
· Have you put the subject's comments/denial high up in the report, or have you simply added it at the bottom of the report?
· Are we being fair to the subject?

If we consider Stage Two and Three together, the article uses very negative language towards this child. She is labelled "promiscuous", her mother described as "desperate". We are told that even beating the girl with weapons (which I would regard as child abuse in its own right) has not "deterred" her from having sex with men. She is labelled a high school drop out. Her behaviour is cited as the reason why her mother is being threatened and assaulted by neighbours. We are told the mother "cannot be named" but this is surely because the child is a rape victim and to identify the mother would risk exposure of the child. Yet the child's identity is compromised by the sensationalist photograph where the child (are we supposed to interpret her covering her face in shame?) is pictured behind the mother who brandishes the chains.

When one looks at the report, it is the final quarter of the story before the voice of the child is heard. She is only quoted after we are told of the behaviour of an older sister (which is portrayed as deviant even though she was reported as having been subjected to gender-based violence) so her credibility is attacked before she has even been introduced.

The child is quoted as having said that she was not having sex because she liked it but because she obtained food and money which is not available at home. In contrast to her "drop out" image at the beginning of the article, the child actually wants to study and to be placed in a safe environment.

This is counteracted by two of the neighbours (it is unclear if these are the neighbours threatening and abusing the mother) trashing the reputation of the sisters again. They are in their mid twenties and, yet, are presented as authoritative judges of the behaviour of the child - not the men having sex with her.

The article ends with the police inspector investigating the rape and a report that the man has appeared in court who has been accused of statutory rape. It is not clear if he has been held in custody pending trial.

Surely, this is the wrong angle for the story. Surely the story is a dreadful tale of child abuse and poverty. Surely the story is the lack of support mechanisms in place for vulnerable victims of crime. Surely the story is one of, yet again, women bearing the brunt of societal anger on the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Surely, this was appalling reporting.

I would like to turn your attention to a special report your newspaper ran on 20 October 2002 on the subject of Rape. You stated "Statutory rape is when any male has, or tries to have, unlawful sex with a girl under the age of consent (16 years of age)".

You further stated in an article entitled "No More Secrets" of the same date

"The statutory age of sexual consent in South Africa is 16 years. If you are younger than this, or have been forced to have sex (in any way) against your will, you have been raped or sexually assaulted - and that just ain't cool! "

It is vitally important to remember that in South Africa anyone who has intercourse with a child under the age of sixteen is guilty of 'statutory rape.' The law says a child under 16 is not mature enough to make a responsible decision to have intercourse or not. So rape occurs even if the child agreed to sexual intercourse.

I would like you to explain to me how your newspaper could run a feature on the subject of rape and statutory rape, then print a story such as this one? I cannot reconcile your stance.

Sexual assault against children in South Africa is amongst the highest in the world. Roughly one in four girls and one in eight boys are abused at some time. It is interesting that school teachers are taught never to tell a child who has confessed that they are enduring sexual abuse that they will keep the information a secret as they are under a legal obligation to report child abuse incidents. Did your reporter inform the police that the child reported she was having sexual intercourse with a 22 year old man? If not, why not?

I am very concerned that this child is now facing a situation whereby she has to go to a Court and recount an incident of rape having now been labelled in a national newspaper "sex mad". Child abuse and rape are very serious subjects. The emotional and psychological harm can be enormous and affect the child's relationships for the rest of her life. Did your reporter ask whether the child was reluctant to speak to the police about the rape because it was too traumatic for her?

I would like your newspaper to do the following:
· apologise to this child and her family for labelling her "sex mad" and giving the men and neighbours abusing the mother and her children credence for their disgraceful actions;
· apologise for threatening the child's anonymity in the court case,
· explain clearly why an article which clearly breaches your own policy and contradicts previous articles on statutory rape was published in the first place; and
· inform me of what gender training and other measures will be undertaken with regard to the reporter of this story.

I thank you for your consideration and look forward to hearing from you by return.

Yours sincerely

Helen Fernand